Sketchnotes, infographics, annotating, mind maps and anchor charts are amazing ways to make thinking visible. In education we focus on ways to reach every learner, visible thinking is a great place to start. Some students don’t have the ability to focus through a long lecture. Turn that into a positive, have the student annotate information or sketch and doodle notes. Doing this requires the student to listen with a focus.

You don’t have to be an artist to sketch or doodle. This type of learning often turns students away when they feel they are not creative or artistic. Start small, have students practice in many different forms before turning them loose with sketchnotes! A great place to learn is with Google’s Auto Draw. Auto Draw allows you to draw, with a mouse or touch screen, anything you want and Google will guess what you are drawing. This allows students to create in a safe place to refine their craft! The other great place to practice, Google’s Quick, Draw! Google suggests an image and the person drawing has 20 seconds to draw while artificial intelligence tries to guess!

My favorite tool for visible thinking in schools is Google Drawing. The application of this program are endless. Jump in and try it out!

Another awesome use of visible thinking is using your voice. Thinking about thinking and talking about thinking is so important for students. Taking the time to reflect on what they are doing will solidify learning and embed a practice in students that they can transfer to other areas of learning.

Allowing students to have the choice to draw what they hear and see affords them another avenue to capture learning. Building this practice into your classroom creates a culture of thinking and makes it a daily habit. In the end, you will have students who take the time to do this on their own, without prompting.

Continue to wonder, lead with learning and make thinking visible for your students!